Excavator
An excavator is an engineering vehicle consisting of an articulated arm (boom, stick), bucket and cab mounted on a pivot (a rotating platform, like a Lazy Susan) atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. Their design is a natural progression from the steam shovel. (This Article is from Wikipedia, as the basis for section. Additional history and UK Machine info required, as well as reformatting of section) Usage Excavators are used in many roles: *Digging of trenches, holes, foundations *Material handling *Brush cutting with hydraulic attachments *Demolition *General grading/landscaping *Heavy lift, e.g. lifting and placing of pipes *Mining, especially, but not only open-pit mining *River dredging Configurations Excavators come in a wide variety of sizes. The smaller ones are called a mini-excavator or compact excavator. One manufacturer's largest model weighs 84,980 kg (187,360 lb) and has a maximum bucket size of 4.5 m³ (5.9 yd³). The same manufacturer's smallest mini-excavator weighs 1470 kg (3240 lb), has a maximum bucket size of 0.036 m³ (0.048 yd³) and the width of its tracks can be adjusted to 89 cm (35 inches). Another company makes a mini excavator that will fit through a doorway with tracks that can be adjusted to only 70 cm (28 inches) wide. In recent years, hydraulic excavator capabilities have expanded far beyond excavation tasks. With the advent of hydraulic powered attachments such as a breaker, a grapple or an auger, the excavator is frequently used in many applications other than excavation. Many excavators feature quick-attach mounting systems for simplified attachment mounting, dramatically increasing the machine's utilization on the jobsite. Excavators are usually employed together with loaders and bulldozers. Most wheeled versions, and smaller, compact excavators have a small backfill (or dozer-) blade. This is a horizontal bulldozer-like blade attached to the undercarriage and is used for pushing removed material back into a hole. Terminology Excavators are also called diggers and 360-degree excavators, sometimes abbreviated simply to a 360. Tracked excavators are sometimes called trackhoes by analogy to the backhoe. Even though the 'back' in backhoe refers to the action of the bucket (which pulls "back" toward the machine) and not the location of the shovel, excavators are also occasionally referred to as fronthoes or even just "hoes" . Education The National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS), established 2002, uses excavator training schools and curriculum as a method to test and train users in the ability of excavator use. Gallery Images needed Image:Demolition_rotary_grab.JPG|Demolition excavator Rotary grab File:Doosan_in_hole_003.jpg|A Doosan getting in deep Major manufacturers * CNH website * New Holland * O&K * Ammann-Yanmar: website * Bobcat Company * Case CE * Caterpillar Inc. * Doosan Infracore (formerly Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery) * Hitachi Construction Machinery * Hydrema: website * Hyundai Heavy Industries * John Deere: http://www.Deere.com * JCB * Kobelco Construction Machinerywebsite * Komatsu * lbxco: http://www.lbxco.com/　website * Liebherr * The Manitowoc Company * Mitsubishi Heavy Industries * Mustang Manufacturing: website * Poclain * Terex Corporation * Volvo Construction Equipment Types of excavator ]] * Backhoe loader * Bucket-wheel excavator * Compact excavator * Drag line excavator * High reach demolition excavator (HRD excavator) * Long reach excavator * Skid steer * Steam shovel * Power shovel * Suction excavator Other * Bulldozer * Civil Engineering * Demolition Excavator * Engineering Vehicles * National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools – US educational organisation * Mining Simulation * Special Purpose Machines See also References *Classic Plant & Machinery Magazine *Earthmovers Magazine *Classic Plant Machinery (book), by Brian Johnson External links * Excavator Evaluations, Specs, & Suppliers * Excavator Specifications and Comparisons * Excavator Specifications * VRML Simulation of an Excavator, Tower Crane, and Dumptruck * Configure a Hydraulic Excavator – from the official Caterpillar website * NIOSH Publication: Preventing Injuries When Working With Hydraulic Excavators and Backhoe Loaders *Excavator Simulation *Mining Excavator Simulator systems supplier - (Not an on-line game) Category:Glossary Category:Construction plant Category:Excavators